Paging Atticus Finch
by PurplePoctopus
Summary: Dean Winchester believed that Amy Pond, the maternal kitsune, would have been Osiris' third witness. The girl that appeared in the seat, however, was not expected.


They didn't want to call the third witness, but Osiris insisted. Sitting there, finally in chains, Dean was sure that Amy Pond, the blonde kitsune he told his brother that he would let live, would be the next witness. He was ready for Sam to see what he had done, see the girl that he killed who was just trying to look out for her family, when Osiris called the next witness' name. It wasn't Amy, not by a longshot, but it was someone that Dean should have expected. "The prosecution calls to the stand, Bela Talbot."

She flickered into existence on the witness' chair, checking her nails and avoiding eye contact. For someone who had spent three hundred and sixty years in Hell, she looked as prim and pristine as the day that he last saw her. "Hey, Bela." Dean said with a small, sad smile, knowing that he wasn't going to make it out of this cross-examination without a quick death sentence. All the work that Sam did… it would be shattered in a matter of moments.

"Don't 'Hey' me, Dean." Bela snapped from the witness stand, still looking at her nails. "We're not friends, and really… I'm a bit offended that you feel guilty about me. It means I didn't do my job right." She looked as if she was going to say something else, but the god cut her off with a point of his staff.

"State your name and occupation for the record."

"Bela Anne Talbot. Great thief." Dean snickered and remarked that some things never change, even after years in Hell. He wondered how she could still remember who she was, but then again, Bela was always a fighter. He always wondered how long it would take before she became a demon. He watched her every day on the rack and she'd keep her lips sealed, she wouldn't give Alastair what he wanted.

Not until Dean came along, anyways.

"And what is your relationship with the defendant?" Oriris asked with a smirk on his face. He was carefully studying Dean's movements, his every tic and twitch. He loved people like Dean, so laden with guilt, so glazed with denial.

"He is the righteous man, and I was the first seal. He's also an incredible _prick_." The corners of Bela's mouth upturned into a wicked grin and she glanced over to Osiris. "Nice staff. If I weren't comparable to a doornail, I'd have stolen it off of you by now."

"The witness will refrain from talking out of line." Osiris boomed, smacking said staff on the floor of the barn. "Do you believe Dean was responsible for your death, Ms. Talbot?"

"Partially." Bela said nonchalantly, feeling no remorse or hesitation as she stared Dean down. "I mean, I caused my own death… But he let me die. He could have saved me and he didn't. It's all on him, really. And then there's what he did _after_ that. After he left me to be buried in a garbage bag in the woods by the Erie staff…" Dean's face froze, and Sam looked over at him with suspicious eyes. He knew that Dean broke souls in Hell, but he didn't know who exactly he broke. Dean supposed that Sam knew from Bela's introduction, but there was at least… a minute chance that he didn't.

It was only a matter of seconds before Dean was wishing that the third witness had been Amy. "Would you care to elaborate on what Mr. Winchester did to you?" And of course, Bela didn't hesitate to say yes. She flashed another smirk at Dean, one that was full of revenge and spite, then little-girl waved at Sam. She wasn't getting on anyone's good side, and the tension in the room could be cut with a knife.

"When Alastair offered him the knife, down in the pit, he gladly took it. And Alastair offered him his choice. He showed Dean three people: a man who killed a young girl, a woman who beat her son every night, and me. Of course, Dean chose me. I mean, it was fate… Dean was always supposed to choose me… But it stung. And he ripped me apart. Didn't you, Dean-o?" Dean swallowed and looked down to his chains. _I'm never getting out of this now._ "Tell me, Dean. Do you drink?"

"Sweetheart, I know you'd like to think that you're so important to my mental health, but… Go back to Hell." Dean retorted, despite Osiris' previous threat. He didn't care. He was dead either way.

"Likewise, Dean. But, I am important. I was just like you, scared and running from Hell, prepared to do whatever it took to save my own ass… and you scorned me for doing exactly what you did. You know you're a hypocrite, and you know—you know that you could have saved me. You knew you could have kept yourself from cutting me up…"

"Shut _up_, Bela."

"And you didn't even come back to salt and burn me. Shame. Crowley's preparing me to be his right hand. Whoops." Bela smirked and looked over to Osiris with those catlike eyes. "I think I've said enough. Make your call… But Dean's very, very guilty."

"Thank you for your testimony, Ms. Talbot. You are now dismissed." And with another smack of his staff, Bela's image flickered away and she sauntered back to the pits of Hell. Dean cringed in his seat, knowing full well what his verdict would be.

"I'm sorry, Sammy."


End file.
